Piper Ritter – 2018

Piper Ritter – 2018

• Former Minnesota pitcher Piper Ritter is in her 11th season with theGophers as pitching coach,having developed 3 of the top hurlers in Minnesota softball history in Brianna Hassett, Sara Moulton and Sara Groenewegen.
• In 2017, Ritter helped coach the Gophers to a historic season:
  • Third lowest ERA in the NCAA in 2017 with a staff 1.19 ERA
  • Program best 56-5 record
  • Longest win streak to start a season with 19 and longest win streak ever with 26 straight
  • Prior to the 2017 season the Gophers were never ranked in the top-10 in either major polls. They reached No. 1 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll and No. 3 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll
  • They won their first regular season Big Ten title since 1991 and their third Big Ten tournament championship in 4 years. Ritter was part of the 2017 NFCA Great Lakes Regional Coaching Staff of the Year.
• Ritter guided Groenewegen to numerous honors during her Gopher career: Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and NFCA All-American. In 2017, Groenewegen finished her Gopher career impressively, posting a 31-4 record with a 0.63 ERA and 307 strikeouts. The ERA was the 2nd lowest in the NCAA and 2nd lowest ever recorded in Gophers history. Groenewegen graduated as the all-time Gophers strikeout leader.
• Ritter helped Minnesota make a dramatic turnaround by mentoring Moulton, who left Minnesota with program records for wins, appearances (178), innings pitched (1,017), complete games (108), no-hitters (5) shutouts (47), and at the time strikeouts (1,184).
• During her playing career, Ritter was one of the most accomplished pitchers in program history. Her career strikeout mark ranked 14th in NCAA history. Ritter threw record-tying 5 career no-hitters for the Gophers, including 2 perfect games.